


Perchance to Dream

by Accidental_Ducky



Category: Sweeney Todd (2007)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:40:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4180203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accidental_Ducky/pseuds/Accidental_Ducky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The woman was already gone by the time he jerked out of the memory, the sound of her heels still echoing even if he couldn't see her anymore. Shaking his head, Todd begins to walk once more, sure that his mind was playing tricks on him. No, his Lettie wouldn't allow anyone to degrade her like that woman has. His Lettie is safe above Mrs. Lovett's meat pie shop with Lucy and Johanna. But he still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that nothing was really like he remembered.</p><p>And the woman walking down the street was having a hard time convincing herself that her brother was dead.</p><p>*Sweeney finds his little sister after fifteen years in a living hell, but he's not the only one that's suffered.*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Perchance to Dream

_::Perchance to Dream::_

Benjamin wasn't sure what to think when he first heard his little sister's cries echoing through the house, didn't know whether to bury himself further under his blanket in the hopes of drowning out the shrill noise or go and check on her since it's quite obvious that her wet nurse wasn't going to quiet her down. After a few more moments of the ceaseless wailing, the teenager kicks back his thin blanket and pads down the hall to the room his sister shares with the nurse. The room would have been pitch black if the window hadn't been wide open to allow moonlight to stream inside. Benjamin didn't notice that at first, too concerned with how pale and cold Lettie was as he held her in his arms.

His little sister went silent the moment she was properly held, staring up at her brother with big brown eyes that looked much like his own. Indeed, his sister was practically a mirror image and that thought had Benjamin smiling a little. She never went quiet so quickly when their father or the nurse held her, only with Benjamin did that little miracle happen. "What's wrong, Lettie," he inquires, not expecting the baby to answer him. Lettie gives him a toothless grin in return, bringing one of her tiny hands up to tap his chin. Benjamin's smile widens a fraction until he notices the opened window. "What's this then?"

He moves carefully through the nursery, trying not to step on the small amount of toys their father had carved while he wasn't busy. Snow was still falling from the evening before, accumulating on the sill, the fine white powder making the footprints obvious. It made Benjamin afraid to look down, unconsciously moving one of his hands to cover his sister's eyes even though he knew it would be impossible for her to see the horrific sight below on the pavement. Suzanne, a quiet maid with pretty eyes, was lying on the cold stone below, her blood staining the pure white snow a bright red crimson. The sight of the dead maid was enough to have tears stinging the teen's eyes, but beside her, with his arms wrapped tightly around Suzanne, was his own father. Benjamin squeezes his eyes closed, quickly shutting the window and backing away until his back was pressed flat against the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Mother," he calls out, the panic and loud tone of his voice making his little sister squirm in his arms and her bottom lip begin to quiver. "Mother, please!" Johanna Barker came running into the nursery, her dark curls as wild as her bright blue eyes.

"What do you think you're doing," she hisses," you'll have the whole street up with that yelling! And you've got your sister worked up..." She trailed off into silence when she saw how terrified Benjamin looked, how one of his hands was curled protectively around the baby and the other was stretched out with a finger pointing towards the closed window. "What is it, Ben?"

"F-father," he manages to croak out," Suzanne..." It was obvious what had happened, all of the house's residents, with the exception of Lettie, knew that Benjamin's father was sleeping with the maid. They all knew how melancholic he'd become since Lettie was born alive while her twin brother had been stillborn. It didn't matter that Lettie was relatively healthy for being born a month early, no, Christian had wanted another son and got a girl instead. He'd blamed Johanna for it, saying she'd made a deal with Lucifer to have a daughter.

So it only made since that he took his lover with him into death, Benjamin thought a few days later as he watched his father's coffin being lowered into the ground. He'd held Lettie during the ceremony while his great aunt comforted his mother's weeping form, he'd watched after Lettie as his mother fell sick a few weeks later, and he continued to do so after his mother passed on a few months after that. He'd refused any help from his great aunt, knowing she only wanted the money his parents had saved up. Lettie was his only real family, and he felt proud as he watched her grow quickly.

She was two when he married Lucy and three when Johanna was born, too young to remember that the new baby shared their mother's name. Lettie was full of smiles on her fourth birthday, skipping along ahead of Benjamin and Lucy with her little doll clutched in her arms. Lucy can't help the laugh that escapes while watching the girl she considered her daughter. "She's so much like you, Ben," the fair-haired beauty states with another laugh. Benjamin takes on a proud smile at that, pushing the wickerwork carriage that held their own daughter. "Lettie, don't go too far ahead!" The child turns with a large grin, her pale cheeks flushed a healthy pink as she skips back towards them. Ben didn't have time to react and Lucy had opened her mouth to scream as Lettie fell to the ground and a man nearly stepped on her. Before the oblivious man's foot could crush the child's head, another man scooped the girl up into his arms while two more sized the other.

The Barkers didn't feel much relief when they learned who Lettie's savior was. His bird-like features schooled into an expression of concern as he holds Lettie tightly against his chest and begins to walk in their direction, Benjamin leaving Lucy with the baby to meet the Judge at a halfway point. "Thank, my lord," Benjamin says, holding out his arms for his little sister only to have Turpin hold her closer to him, studying her features.

"A beautiful girl you have here, Mister Barker," Turpin drawls, gray eyes slowly meeting Benjamin's brown ones. "Children are often so filled with life that they don't see the dark things right in front of them; I believe the parents must pay closer attention to that darkness before it takes the children away much too early." Turpin looks down at Lettie again, giving her a smile that Benjamin assumes is supposed to be kind before he sets her on her feet again and takes one of her hands in his. "Do be more careful, little one. This world is a dangerous place with criminals everywhere." Lettie gasped, yanking her hand out of Turpin's much larger one before throwing herself up in her brother's arms. Ben held her tightly to his chest, watching until the Judge's head was lost in the sea of people.

"Benji," she whimpers, her eyes filled with tears.

"It's alright, Lettie," he whispers, putting a chaste kiss on her forehead as he carries her back over to Lucy and Johanna. "I've got you now."

"What do you suppose that was about," Lucy asks, watching her husband as he sets Lettie back on her feet with a protective hand on her head. "He shouldn't have said that in front of Lettie, it'll give her nightmares."

"I suppose he thinks that his new appointment to Judge means he has the right to frighten children." Benjamin shakes his head, taking control of the baby carriage again and leading the way through the crowded square with Lucy and Lettie following on beside him. Everyone who knew Benjamin Barker also knew that he was a protective man, and he was the most protective of his children—even if one of his children is actually his baby sister.

"Oh," Lettie gasps a few moments later, the previous scene involving Turpin entirely forgotten now," Benji, look! Pretty flowers!" The four year old tugs on Lucy's hand, nearly bouncing in her excitement. "I want some pretty flowers for my birfday!" Benjamin gives a soft smile when Lettie looks up at him, her own excited smile enough to send the happiness coursing back through him.

"Well, then I suppose I ought to head to that stall this very moment and get flowers for all the beautiful young women in my company."

"You're silly, Benji."

"Am I now? I could have sworn I was perfectly normal." Lettie shakes her head, taking on a determined expression.

"Mm-mm, you're the silliest big brother ever!" She does a little jump on the word  _ever_ , nodding her head like it was all serious business they were discussing. "But I'll love you anyway." Lucy and Ben share happy smiles, Lucy picking little Johanna up while Ben and Lettie move closer to the florist's stall to buy some flowers. When they come back, Lettie has a single bright yellow daisy while Benjamin is holding a small bouquet of white flowers. "Look, sissy, I gots a lellow flower!"

"Yes," Lucy nods," it's almost as pretty as you are."

"What do you think," Benjamin asks, handing off all but one of the flowers to Lucy, holding the one he still had in front of Johanna's face for her to see. "Do you think she'll like these?"

"I think Lettie's right, you are a silly man."

"Mm, but you love all the same for it."

"All the more."

"And I love you, my beautiful wife." Lettie looked beyond the couple, wondering why two men were approaching so quickly, though never getting the chance to point them out before they'd clubbed Benjamin over the head and began to drag him away. Lucy seemed to fall into a state of shock, unable to move from her spot even as Lettie tried to run after her brother.

"No," the child shrieked as a strong arm snaked around her waist to hold her back. "No! No, Benji!"

"You're quite safe now, little one," comes the familiar drawling voice of the Judge, his free hand resting on one of Lucy's shoulders even as Lettie continued to struggle to get away. "You are no longer bound to such a disgusting criminal."

***~::~*::~*** **FIFTEEN YEARS LATER*~::~*::~***

It felt strange being back in London after all these years, the city seeming to be tainted or maybe it was himself? He wasn't sure anymore, just that he needed his family in order to feel sane again and not like a prisoner covered in grime and sea water. It was hard to picture his girls, but he still carried a vague memory of their smiling faces right before he was dragged away—Lucy looking torn in what to do and his little Lettie trying to chase after him and letting out such desperate cries for him to be rescued. He could barely picture Johanna, just that her eyes were beginning to lighten into her mother's shade of blue. He winces, still remembering the sudden, throbbing pain in his head and the sensation of being pulled rather quickly with nowhere to go. It was all like a bad dream to him now, sometimes making him wonder if it was real at all. He shakes the depressing thoughts away, focusing on making his way back to his home where, hopefully, his family will be waiting for him.

As he was turning another corner, his thoughts speeding through his mind, he ran right into someone else, the smaller person falling to the street with a grunt of surprise. He glowers down at the person, taking in the torn silk skirts of her dress and its plunging neckline. The woman scowls up at Todd without fear of being struck, her dark hair pulled back out of her face with one lock of it laying over her shoulder, her dark eyes fixed on him. "Don't just stand there," she says sternly," help me up!"

"And why should I bother to help someone in your profession," he sneers. He tried to walk past her only to have the doxy grab onto one of his legs, though he had no problems dragging her a few feet before she dug the heels of her shoes in to bring him to a halt.

"What kind of man are you? You can't knock a woman down and keep walking!"

"And you're a woman, are you?" He glares down at her, noticing for the first time how young she is. She can't be much older than nineteen or twenty years old, no sores to mark her as homeless or sick. "How long have you been selling your body?"

"It's not like I do it because I have a choice." Todd clenches his jaw, acknowledging that the only way to get his foot back is to help the woman back on her feet. He grabs one of her arms and jerks her into a standing position, his rough grip sure to leave dark bruises on her impossibly pale skin. "My master sells me to the higher up for a better price." He felt a pang of sadness in his chest, knowing he'd kill any man that did something like this to one of his girls—it doesn't make him feel any better when he realizes that Lettie would be close to this woman in age by now and not the four year old he left behind. "Be careful, mister, there's a lot of dangerous people lurking around at night, though I don't s'pose anyone would pick a fight with you." She gives him a wink before walking off.

"Be careful." He's not entirely sure what made him say that, why his old protective nature was suddenly rearing its head. Perhaps it's because he's back on familiar streets again or the thoughts of his family? Either way, it makes the woman look back at him in surprise, her dark eyes widening as though she had never had those words spoken to her before.

"Don't be silly, mister, no one's really safe in this world."  _Silly_ , that simple word bringing back a memory of a little girl who he'd raised. ' _You're silly, Benji.' 'Am I now? I could have sworn I was perfectly normal.' 'Mm-mm, you're the silliest big brother ever, but I'll love you anyway.'_ The woman was already gone by the time he jerked out of the memory, the sound of her heels still echoing even if he couldn't see her anymore. Shaking his head, Todd begins to walk once more, sure that his mind was playing tricks on him. No, his Lettie wouldn't allow anyone to degrade her like that woman has. His Lettie is safe above Mrs. Lovett's meat pie shop with Lucy and Johanna. But he still couldn't shake the nagging feeling that nothing was really like he remembered.

And the woman walking down the street was having a hard time convincing herself that her brother was dead.


	2. Daydreaming

_::Daydreaming::_

Elizabeth was slow to wake the next morning, the bed beneath her softer than any she's ever slept in before and she wasn't in a hurry to leave it before she had to. In fact, she only opened her eyes because of the sunlight filtering in through the window and onto her face. Scrunching her nose, she rolls onto her back and squints up at the ceiling above her head. There were no rodents or sickness here, not in a fine home like this one. Slowly, Elizabeth sits up in the bed, using the sheets to cover her body while she hunts around the room for her clothes. It wasn't long after she'd pulled her chemise over her head and was working on her corset when the door to the bedroom opened to reveal a rather disappointed-looking Beadle Bamford.

"The Judge said to see you out the back way," he informs her, watching intently as she continues to get dressed in the clothes she came there in last night.

"Why'd he let me stay," she asks, turning to face the rat when she had finished dressing. Bamford shrugs a shoulder, one corner of his mouth twitching slightly as he turns to lead the way downstairs. Elizabeth follows behind him at a languid pace, taking in all of the rich furnishings she never had a chance to see on the nights she was called for, the portraits of Edmund Turpin's ancestors staring down at her with sneers and loathing.  _It's not my fault your descendant is sick in his head_ , she thinks as she turns her face away from the paintings. Beadle and Elizabeth come to a stop just outside the study, Turpin and a young boy sending them a look before facing each other once more.

"A sailor," Turpin asks, seemingly continuing on from before they were interrupted.

"Yes, sir," the teen nods, accepting the small glass of alcohol from Turpin. There's no telling what's in there, Elizabeth herself had accepted a drink from the Judge on her first night in coming here and awoke hours later outside, covered in scrapes and bruises. "The  _Bountiful_ , out of Plymouth." The boy's voice is soft, hinting towards shyness or fear of the man in front of him. Elizabeth would have bet everything she owns that it was the latter.

"A sailor must know the ways of the world, yes?" Turpin turns and walks over to one of the bookcases that line the left wall of the study. "Must be practiced in the ways of the world. Would you say you're practiced, boy?"

"Sir?"

"Oh, yes. Such practices." The Judge runs his fingers across the spines of the books, books which Elizabeth knew contained strange acts one can perform in bed, acts which Turpin has studied for so many years that he had them memorized. Most were uncomfortable for the women involved, but Turpin seemed to love hurting the weaker sex, it made him feel stronger. "The geishas of Japan, the concubines of Siam, the catamites of Greece, the harlots of India."  _The whores of London._  He looks at the boy again, gray eyes flicking towards Elizabeth for a moment before returning to the boy. "I have them all here. Drawings of them. Everything you've ever dreamed of doing with a woman." He pulls one of the books towards him, not yet taking it off the shelf. "Would you like to see?"

"I think there's been some mistake." The book is slid back into its place and Elizabeth tries to take a step back on instinct only to have the Beadle stop her with a hand on her back.

"I think not." He takes a few steps towards the boy, floorboards squeaking under his boots. "You gandered at my ward, Johanna. You gandered at her. Yes, sir, you gandered."

"I meant no harm," the boy says hurriedly, trying to diffuse the quickly escalating situation.

"Your meaning is immaterial." Turpin moves quickly, suddenly leaning over the boy's chair with his hands gripping the arms of the chair tightly to keep the boy from fleeing. The sudden motion had Elizabeth jumping, but she doesn't move backwards for fear of what the Beadle might press into her back this time. "Mark me. If I see your face again on this street, you'll rue the day you were born." With a nod in Beadle's direction, Turpin steps away and allows the other man to forcefully remove the boy from the estate. "I have your master's payment, Elizabeth." She doesn't hesitate, already knowing that Turpin wouldn't touch her in broad daylight if he could avoid it. No, she belonged to his night world, the one where he is just another man and not a member of the higher society.

"My master would wish me to thank you, my lord," Elizabeth murmurs, giving a slight nod of her head after he pushes a small purse of money into her hand.

"Well, he would get nothing from me if the girl he sold was any less skilled." He gives Elizabeth a hint of a smile before gesturing with his arm in the direction Beadle and the boy had just went. "I trust I'll see you again soon?"

"Whenever you wish, my lord, as always." Elizabeth hurries out of the room without looking back, stuffing the purse down the front of her dress so that it's less likely to be stolen on the walk back to her master.

"Miss Elizabeth," the Beadle says as she walk past him out the servant's door, closing it once she was outside and he realized she wasn't going to acknowledge him. Elizabeth kneels on the ground next to the boy, his blonde hair hanging in his face as he tries to get up by himself.

"Easy now, dear. He may not look like much, but the Beadle can put a grown man down with that walking stick of his." She rests a hand on the boy's back, gently urging him to lie back down for a moment. "Here, let's wipe that blood off." She pulls out her frayed handkerchief, using it to wipe the crimson off the boy's face.

"Thank you, ma'am," he says, coughing a little in pain. "I'm Anthony Hope." Elizabeth smiles down at him kindly, stuffing the handkerchief back up her sleeve with the though to wash it later.

"And I'm Elizabeth Banner, at least, I think that's my last name." She's had trouble remembering little things like that after a particularly brutal beating in the workhouse, but she was certain, because of the initials on her handkerchief, that her last name started with a B. "Alright, let's see if we can't get you back up on your feet, Mister Hope."

"Please," he says with a grunt as he and Elizabeth struggle to get him back up," call me Anthony." Elizabeth smiles again, dusting off his clothes and giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Hopefully I'll see you again, Anthony."

* * *

Toby looks up when the door of the carriage opens, his shoulders relaxing when he recognizes the faint cursing as Elizabeth's. For a moment he'd feared it was Pirelli, coming back early in a rage to strike out at Toby or worse. But it's his Elizabeth and he knows he's usually safe while she's around to keep Pirelli's hand at bay. "Toby," she smiles when she finally gets her shoe unstuck and makes it all the way inside the carriage," how was your night?"

"No worse than normal," he shrugs, taking another bite from his breakfast.

"Is that all he gave you, then?" Toby nods, holding out the slice of bread for her to take a bite out of only for her to shake her head. "I'll get us out of here one day and then we'll have good food."

"I know, I know." He's heard this talk since they were bought by Pirelli and he still found it amazing that she could daydream about something so fanciful. "We'll live in a nice house with all the food we can eat." He rolls his eyes, finishing off the bread and sitting back against the wall. Elizabeth sits on the ground next to him, her legs stretched out in front of her and her dark eyes staring ahead of them at nothing. "Did you get the money from that Judge?"

"Mm-hm." she gives a nod, not really paying attention to anything as she pictured what her dream house looks like. She'd explained it to him before, the cheery wallpaper and nice wooden furnishings. Sometimes he heard her talking in her sleep, always going on about some man that she never remembered while awake. He'd asked about it before and all she said was that she remembered a glint of silver in sunlight and the smell of fancy cologne. Maybe he was from her old life; could be the man that gave her that old handkerchief with EB sewn into the corner in bright yellow thread. A half-hour later, the carriage door is opened again and Pirelli marches inside, dressed in his usual garish, peacock blue outfit and top hat. Elizabeth jumps when the door slams shut, standing quickly upon seeing Pirelli and nearly stumbling on the skirts of her dress.

"I trust you were paid well since he kept you all night," Pirelli questions as he sits on his cot in the corner. Elizabeth pulls a small purse out of the bodice of her dress, dropping it into Pirelli's outstretched hand and waiting beside the bed to receive her own payment. "It's certainly heavier than usual." The fake Italian dumps the purse's contents out onto the cot, more there than what they usually make in a month. "I ran into the Beadle earlier on my way back, he carried a compliment from Judge Turpin. I don' know what you're doin' up in that fancy house, but keep doin' it." He stuffs the money into his own purse, throwing the other at Elizabeth to do away with. "Toby, you go out tomorrow mornin' and sell more of the elixir. Know that if you don't sell more than fifteen bottles by the afternoon that I'll beat you bloody."

"Yes, Signor," Toby nods obediently.

"Why are you still standin' there? Go sit down before I make you!" Elizabeth flinches at the harsh tone, sitting back down beside Toby with her head lowered. She should've known better than to expect money for what she did, but he supposed it was part of her fantasy.


	3. A New Barber in Town

_::A New Barber in Town::_

Market day always meant one thing for Elizabeth: easy pickings from the rich folk's servants. "Out of the way, tramp," a large gentleman with a bushy mustache snarls, pushing his way past Elizabeth with a sneer.  _I'm not homeless, bastard_. She followed him discreetly, a small knife hidden in her palm as she gains on him. In a simple moment of contact, she had his purse in one hand and the knife safely in the hidden pocket in her skirt.

"Apologies, good sir," she says, giving him a slight bow as she walks past him, the hand holding his purse behind her back and out of his sight. The man grumbles something under his breath and stomps past her, not seeing her as she grins and tosses the purse from hand to hand a couple of times before stuffing it into the pocket with her knife a three other purses. They would be eating well for months to come, and that's not counting what Pirelli makes by selling Elizabeth to the Judge and his honest work of shaving. Feeling satisfied that she's made more than enough for the afternoon, Elizabeth makes her way through the crowd to a small fruit stand, nicking an apple while the owner's back was turned before moving back towards the small stage she and Toby had put up the day before.

While the market was always crowded on market day, most of the people seemed to surround the stage, watching as Toby shouts about the greatness of Pirelli's "miracle elixir". In reality, it was just the bottles Pirelli and Toby filled as they traveled from city to city. She scrunches her nose when she catches a whiff of the old urine, swallowing back bile as Toby demonstrated how to use the elixir by pouring a bit on a bald man's head and having the man rub it into his scalp. Poor bugger doesn't know what that actually is, and if he did, Toby, Pirelli, and Elizabeth would all be dead before the evening. "It's guaranteed," Toby calls out, the wig of pale blonde hair thankfully staying in place on his head as he moves around," you'll have to thin it once a week if you use it properly!"

"Pardon me, ma'am what's that awful stench," the man beside Elizabeth inquires loudly, his voice carrying across the crowd and gaining looks.

"Are we standin' near an open trench," the woman on the other side of him asks next, just as loudly and obviously vying for people's attention. Elizabeth shoots the pair a harsh glare, recognizing the woman as the owner of a rather disgusting shop not too far from where they were. She vaguely remembers working there for a short time before being taken to the workhouse where Pirelli bought her. The woman's companion, however, was easily recognizable as the git that knocked her down the other night. He had a familiar face, as hard and pale as marble, and the white streak running through black hair on the right side was a dead giveaway.

"Must be standin' near an open trench!"

"Buy Pirelli's Miracle Elixir," Toby continues, though louder now. "Anything what's slick, sir, soon sprouts curls." To emphasize his words, he curls a bit of the pale blonde hair around his finger. "When it's nice and thick, you can have any girl you want! Want to buy a bottle, Misses?" He hands the bottle he's holding down to a woman near the front, and the lull is his speech is when the pair next to Elizabeth decide to start up again. By now they have their own bottle, the cork in the top gone and the smell alone making it hard to breathe without gagging.

"What is this?"

"What is this," the woman, Nell or something, Elizabeth isn't quite sure, echoes.

"Smells like piss."

"Smells like- ew!" She hands the bottle back to the man and then speaks to a total stranger as the man leans down to talk to Elizabeth at the same time. "Wouldn't lay a hand on it if I was you."

"This is piss with ink." He stoppers the bottle again, handing it on to the man on the other side of Nell, ignoring Elizabeth's look of hatred with a small smile.

"Let Pirelli's activate your roots, sir," Toby calls out again to regain the attention.

"Keep it off your boots, sir. Eats right through."

"Get Pirelli's, ladies seem to love it!"

"Flies do, too," Nell adds smugly, setting the crowd to talking. Elizabeth steps down hard on the man's foot, making him shuffle back a bit and send his own glare at her. "Easy there, lovely, no need to step on people just 'cause you don't like the truth they're tellin'." Elizabeth had opened her mouth to tell the woman just where they could shove their truth when the booming stage voice of Pirelli silences the crowd. Obviously he heard the negative mutters and shouting and decided to investigate. Toby hops off the stage quickly and Elizabeth pushes through the crowd to get to his side, wrapping a protective arm around the boy's thin shoulders.

"I am Adolfo Pirelli," the barber announces loudly to the crowd," I have shaved Kings and all manner of nobility!" His false accent is thick, and since most of the people here have never traveled outside of London, none but Elizabeth and Toby knew that the accent was as real as the love sailors promise whores. "And I would like-a to know-a who has da nerve-a to say my elixir is piss!" A moment of quiet blankets the crowd, everyone looking for the person shouting about schemes. Then, just as everyone had given up, a man's voice calls out and the crowd of people parts to allow him through.

"I did." The crowd erupts once more into quiet whispers and looks. "I'm Mister Sweeney Todd of Fleet Street." The man that spoke, the one with the white streak, approaches the stage without fear. He wore no smiles now and looked as serious as Elizabeth had ever seen a man. "I have opened a bottle of Pirelli's Elixir, and I say to you that is nothing more than an arrant fraud concocted from piss and ink." Pirelli tries to keep his anger from showing, knowing it would make more people want to buy into his scam if they thought he was nice. "Further more, Signor, I have serviced no Kings..." He pauses for a moment to turn and address the crowd. "Yet I wager I can shave a cheek with ten times more dexterity—" back to Pirelli with that slight smugness back in his expression "—than any street mountebank." He turns back to the crowd with another smile, bringing out two silver razors from somewhere beneath his overcoat. "You see these razors?" He turns to Pirelli again. "I lay them against five pound..." Pirelli bends to inspect them, recognition flickering in his dark eyes. "You are no match, sir. Accept my challenge or reveal yourself as a sham."

And that's the moment Elizabeth knew that she and Toby were in for a long night. If this man did what he says he can, then Pirelli's anger will be drained from him in the form of abusing the two people he owned. Elizabeth and Toby were used to being struck, they'd both suffered worse than that in the workhouse, but that didn't dull the pain. Elizabeth would try to take the brunt of the attack, but once she was unconscious, Toby would be left to Pirelli's mercy. "Get up there," she whispers to the boy, already knowing that Pirelli would accept if only for a chance to beat another man in front of so many people. "Keep your head low, sweetheart." Toby nods obediently, pushing towards the stage and waiting for Pirelli to motion him forward.

"You hear this foolish man," Pirelli asks the crowd with an arrogant smile. "Now, please, you will see how he will regret-a his-a folly!" Pirelli removes his cape, swirling above his head a few times to let the crowd admire the expensive silk before he drops it and bangs his walking stick twice against the stage. "To-by!" Elizabeth follows the boy up onto the stage to help him prepare, saying nothing and ignoring Todd's dark gaze when his eyes land on her. While Toby runs to take the seat cover, Pirelli's cape and top hat, and his own hat into the carriage behind the curtain, Elizabeth moves to stand next to the spot where another chair has been placed for Todd, knowing it would be unfair if he had no help. The new barber takes his things from Nell and heads up onto the stage, Elizabeth taking the things from him to set aside on a small table. He seemed reluctant at first until their fingers accidentally brushed, then he could get away from her fast enough.

"Will Beadle Bamford be the judge," he requests, his tone flat like it was the night he ran into Elizabeth, and holding a note of disgust. Lucky enough for Todd, the rat he requested didn't seem to notice and even put on a jovial smile for the crowd.

"Glad, as always, to oblige my friends and neighbors," Bamford announces, the crowd parting once more to let him through, though none looked impressed by his portly form and long greasy hair. Elizabeth hands Todd the white cloth to cover his man with, purposefully keeping her back turned to Bamford. Todd seems to notice this and take pity on her, trying to stay in front of her while he prepares the shaving cream so that Elizabeth and Bamford never make eye contact. "Ready?"

"Ready," Pirelli nods with a smile.

"Ready," Todd concurs, though his voice was nearly unheard by even Elizabeth. Bamford pulls a whistle on a chain out from under his shirt, holding it lightly in his right hand.

"The fastest, smoothest shave is the winner," Bamford says loud enough for even those in the back of the crowd to understand, drawing more people by the minute. Bamford's whistle lets out a shrill note to signal the beginning of the contest. Elizabeth takes hold of one end of Todd's strop, watching as he begins to sharpen the magnificent blade without even leaving a scratch on her fingers while every downward stroke Pirelli makes cuts deeper into the sensitive flesh of poor Toby's hands. Pirelli, wanting to end this quickly but still wanting to please the gathered people, goes through the motions of preparing everything faster than he should have while explaining just what he was doing.

"Now, Signorini, Signori, we mix-a da lather to shave-a the face," Pirelli says, demonstrating what he meant. Elizabeth keeps her eyes focused on the razor Todd was still so lovingly sharpening, watching as it shines under what little sunshine manages to sneak past the clouds overhead. "You are-a watching the man who has had-a the glory to shave-a da Pope! Mister Sweeney, whoever, I beg-a your pardon. You'll probably say it was only a Cardinal, nope! It was-a da Pope!" Elizabeth knows without looking that Toby has brought out the roll of parchment that Elizabeth had drawn the Pope's likeness on, the forged writing near the bottom of it obvious to any who have seen the Pope's handwriting. Todd gives her a nod to let go of the strop, and she does so, taking a step back to grab the cup of lather and the small shaving brush. Todd tries out the razor by cutting a few hairs on his arm before blowing the small hairs off, closing the razor, putting it away in the small holster at his side, and taking the cup from Elizabeth with another nod. The man in Todd's chair closes his eyes as Todd brushes the lather over the lower half of his face, gentle strokes to make the white mixture even across the stubble.

This is where Elizabeth grew confused after setting the cup of lather back down on the table, Todd was moving the razor around but did not yet cut. It was as though he was trying to plan out how he wanted to shave them man instead of just working in parts like Pirelli did. Then, faster than Elizabeth had ever seen before, the razor met the stubble and Todd had finished the shave before Pirelli was even halfway finished. It was an amazing feat, punctuated by his quiet," Done." And Elizabeth was left standing beside him, gazing down at the smooth-faced stranger in the chair in total shock.

"The winner is Todd," Bamford announces.

"Go and help the boy." Those words were just as quiet as his previous ones, urging Elizabeth to move out of Pirelli's way before she was struck. She does as he says quickly and sends a look of thanks his way, moving to help the boy clean up the mess Pirelli left behind. Elizabeth watches over her shoulder as Pirelli takes his dark pink purse out and hands Todd the money he earned, suddenly feeling as though she'd swallowed a rock and it had settled poorly in her stomach. Something bad was going to happen, she didn't know when, but it would be soon.

"Come, boy," Pirelli commands softly, then," Come!" He backhands Toby sharply, kicking him hard enough that he fell through the curtain and into the carriage behind it, following soon after him and leaving Elizabeth to finish cleaning by herself. With her head lowered, she gets down on her knees and begins to clean the fallen lather up with her stained handkerchief.

"He do that often, love," the woman from earlier asks, coming to stand next to the stage as all the others break away.

"It's not my place to talk bad about him, miss," Elizabeth returns, not lifting her head from her work. "He keeps me fed and clothed and not many men would do that for an orphan."

"What if you weren't an orphan?" Elizabeth pauses, the motherly tone the woman used bringing back faint memories of a kind woman with yellow hair. They were gone as quickly as they came, but they left a deep aching in Elizabeth's chest that she got sometimes after one of her dreams. "Do you remember having family?"

"No, miss, most of my old memories was taken from me after a bad beatin' in the workhouse."

"Why don't you and the lad come and stay with me? I can promise a full belly every night and you won't be beaten anymore." Elizabeth hesitates, seriously thinking over the offer for a moment before shaking her head. Everything that sounded too good to be true usually was and she could be walking into a situation worse than what she was in now.

"No, miss, Pirelli'd only hurt us worse for running away again."


	4. The First Murder

_::The First Murder::_

It took Pirelli a few days to worm Todd's location out of one of his previous customers, but he managed it and came into the carriage with a triumphant smile on his face. Toby limped in after him, still sore from the last beating he received after Todd beat Pirelli. "Have a good day," Elizabeth asks, looking up from her sewing. "Lots of customers?"

"You're to be at Turpin's house later tonight," Pirelli says, grabbing Elizabeth's arm and yanking her to her feet, sewing forgotten," but right now we're goin' to Fleet Street to pay an old friend a visit." Elizabeth flinches in pain, but allows herself to be pushed to the door of the carriage, nearly falling down the stairs. Toby helps her stay upright, staring up at the woman he sees as a big sister in worry. She was more off-balanced than usual, but she put it down to sitting for so long. "Hurry up!" Pirelli shoves her again, hard enough to make her stumble. "Why do I even keep you?"

"Because without the money I bring in, you'd be broke," Elizabeth snarls back, wrapping an arm around Toby and beginning to walk faster to keep Pirelli from making anymore remarks. It took the trio an hour to make it to their destination, a pie shop that appeared ready to collapse at any moment. Elizabeth doesn't stare at the shop part of it, her eyes are drawn to the stairs that lead up to the upper floor where she knew a barber resided. She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but she did and she also knew that something precious to her resided inside in the false bottom of an old dresser drawer. "I know this place," she breathes, no one else hearing her words. The door of the barber shop opens, the bell above it filling the air with a cheery jingle and drawing Pirelli's attention to it and the woman descending the stairs. The woman's auburn hair was piled atop her head, but seemed to go everywhere in wild curls, she was quite skinny and dressed in a moth-eaten dress.

"Signora, is Mister Todd at home?" The woman stops on the bottom step, holding onto the railing to bar Pirelli's way up.

"Plying his trade upstairs," she answers, looking Pirelli over in faint amusement. He truly did stick out in this neighborhood with his bright blue outfit and fur cloak, he looked like a highborn compared to the vagrants round these parts. Elizabeth and Toby fit in nicely, their own clothes having dull colors and several holes. The woman's eyes land on Toby as he goes to stand on Pirelli's left, Elizabeth remaining behind Pirelli with her fingers tugging on the faded purple of her skirt. "Oh, look at it now. You wouldn't mind if I gave him a nice juicy meat pie, would ya?"

"Si, si, si, whatever," Pirelli says, ready to do almost anything to make the woman get out of his way.

"And what about the little girl there behind ya?"

"Not her, she'll get fat." Elizabeth had blushed at the little girl remark, but she blushed even harder at her master's words. She knew that Judge Turpin had high standards, but she also knew that she could easily count her ribs because of how little Pirelli allowed her to eat. She rests one hand flat against her stomach, the corset beneath her dress digging in a little more. The woman (Nell or Elle, Elizabeth wasn't quite sure) gives a shrug and leads Toby into her shop, Elizabeth looking after them sadly until Pirelli delivered a sharp slap to the back of her head. "Move," he hisses, gesturing for her to lead the way up the rickety staircase. Through one of the squares of glass set into the door, Elizabeth could see Todd brushing hair off the barber's chair, dark eyes meeting hers when she knocks lightly.

"Come in," he calls out, voice as gruff as ever. Pirelli opens the door and pushes Elizabeth inside, sneering at her until she stepped to the side and allowed Todd to see the other man properly. The room was a bit sparse in furnishings, a vanity table covered in the barber's tools was set against the right wall, a small wooden crate was set near it against the far wall, and right across from the door was the barber's chair and a window set into the sloping ceiling behind that with another, larger crate set just beneath it. Elizabeth looked to her left and found a trunk meant for travelers, seating herself on it lightly. Tucked into the corner was an iron furnace, a teapot set on top of the hot surface. Across the way from that, stuffed into another corner, was an old cracked mirror. 

"Mister Todd."

"Signor Pirelli."

"Call me Davey." Pirelli dropped the Italian accent, his regular English one a bit thick. "Davey Collins is the name when it's not professional." He shoves his top hat into Elizabeth's arms, handing over his walking stick and cloak to her as well. "I'd like me five quid back if you don't mind." Todd looked confused, his brow furrowed over dark eyes that were sunken slightly into his head.

"Why?"

"Because you entered into our little wager under false pretenses, my friend." The gloves came off next, a pristine white that looked strange against Elizabeth's dirty dress. "So that you might remember to be a bit more forthright in the future, I'll be taking half your profits from herewith. Share and share alike..." He trails off for a moment, turning a little to look at the other man across the room. Todd's eyes seemed to be moving between Pirelli and Elizabeth, but Pirelli's next words ensured that they stayed on him. "...Mister Benjamin Barker." The name Barker has Elizabeth remembering bright yellow flowers and indescribable heartache. She closes her eyes, feeling the tell-tale stinging of tears and blinking them away, not wanting to cry in front of these men. It would do her no good to show weakness, in fact, Pirelli might just strike her again for it. "Yes," Pirelli says, bringing Elizabeth out of her thoughts," this'll do nicely." He'd moved away from her at some point and was now closer to the chair than the trunk. Todd had his back to the pair, staring out the large window at the buildings beyond. "You don't remember me, do ya? Why should you?" Pirelli continues to talk, but Elizabeth rises and walks soundlessly into the connecting room.

This one wasn't as large as the parlor and there was a thick layer of dust covering everything. There was a cot shoved in the corner with a thin blanket neatly folded on it, a small window across the way that looked out towards where the sun would set, and next to the door was a small dresser. Elizabeth reaches out a hand and pulls the only drawer it has open, pressing the back of the drawer's bottom until the front of it popped open with a cloud of dust. Elizabeth's nose scrunches up as she fights the urge to sneeze, one hand covering her mouth and nose while the other disappeared inside the secret compartment. Her fingers rummage around inside of it before they come in contact with something cold. She grabs it quickly and brings it out of the drawer into the light. Her find was a simple necklace, the chain was rusted, but the small circular charm hanging from it was in pristine condition. It was a sapphire the size of her thumb with a circle of diamonds surrounding it. She'd never have been able to afford that even if she stole for a year!

As Elizabeth was examining the necklace, Todd was putting several pieces of a puzzle together and his anger was fizzling near the surface—this filth was trying to blackmail him, he was selling Elizabeth to whoever could pay the most, and he had the nerve to come here and wave it all in Todd's face. With a low, dark growl, Todd grabs the handle of the teapot and swings it around to bash the side of Collins's face. He never noticed how the metal burnt his hand, never realized just how loud he was being as he continued to strike out with his makeshift weapon, he was only able to focus on hitting this piece of filth until it stopped moving. The task seemed to stretch into hours for Todd, but it only took seconds to knock Collins unconscious and to gain Elizabeth's attention. He drops the teapot to the ground, breathing hard as he stares down at the unmoving body. A faint gasp yanks his attention elsewhere, dark eyes locking on the woman that arrived with Collins. 

He almost didn't recognize her after all these years, she was no longer the chubby, happy child he knew, but a woman grown. Her hair was loose today and fell in soft waves, and her eyes, as dark as his own, were wide with shock, her hands covering her mouth as she takes in the murdered corpse. Again, that moment seemed to stretch for Todd, but it lasted shorter than the murder and the woman was kneeling on the ground beside him before he had a chance to blink. He doesn't know what to do or how to respond, so he just watches as she pulls out an old handkerchief and begins to wipe up the blood and water. "Don't just stand there," she commands when he still doesn't move," they'll have heard the ruckus downstairs and you need to put Pirelli somewhere until you figure out what to do with him." 

He snaps out of his daze, dragging the body over to the trunk and depositing it inside, slamming the top down to hide the evidence. Elizabeth has the teapot on the vanity and a small cup of the leftover water pressed into his hand, the handkerchief joining Pirelli's body in the trunk. Both turn at the sound of footstep rapidly approaching, Elizabeth and Todd watching the door as Toby bursts inside. "Signor," the boy shouts frantically, not yet noticing that Pirelli wasn't in sight. "You have an appointment!"

"Signor Pirelli's been called away," Todd lies easily. "Better run after him." Todd can feel Elizabeth tensing next to him, but doesn't comment on it. He wouldn't let her leave him so soon after he's gotten her back, not when she's the only family he has right now. He notices the boy's eyes moving over to Elizabeth, a question there. "I've bought the woman from your master, she stays with me now."

"No, sir. I should stay here, or it'll be a lashing. He's a great one for the lashings." And then Todd's eyes focus on the hand sticking out of the trunk near Elizabeth's skirts, the fingers twitching slightly as Toby sits on the trunk. Elizabeth seems to notice it, too, and sits next to Toby, her skirts covering the hand from view as she wraps the boy up in a hug. 

"Why don't you go on downstairs," Elizabeth suggests," and I'll talk to the landlady about buyin' you as well. We could both enjoy some proper jobs with no beatings, couldn't we?" Toby looks uncertain and Todd pounces with the only thing he could think of to get the boy out.

"Why don't you do as she suggested, but you tell Mrs. Lovett that I said to give a nice big tot o' gin," Todd adds with a smile. Toby looks excited at the prospect, but he still looks up at Elizabeth as though to ask approval.

"Go on, sweet boy, I'll be down in a bit." With a grin, Toby runs back down the stairs to the pie shop, leaving Elizabeth and Todd to finish with Pirelli. "You won't hurt him." Her words were quiet, but stern as she rises from her spot. "You won't lay one hand on that boy or I'll do worse than you did to Pirelli." After a small nod from Todd, she gives one of her own and moves to sit in the chair as Todd finishes the conman. It was simpler than using the teapot, the sharp blade of his razor cutting through the soft flesh of Pirelli's neck, leaving a crimson smile yawning from ear to ear and drops of red splattered across Todd's front. "Remember what I said, Mister Todd," Elizabeth says, making her way to the door and pausing there," that boy is not to be harmed." And then she was gone, her footsteps sounding loud in the sudden quiet that had descended on the shop.

"Not a finger," he promises to no one, letting the lid of the trunk drop closed again," Lettie."


	5. Memories

_::Memories::_

***~::~*::~*SIXTEEN YEARS AGO*~::~*::~***

Benjamin smiles as Lettie stumbles around in the snow, her dark hair standing out in stark relief against the pristine white of the snow as she starts to make a snow angel with Lucy. Lettie always seems to be smiling now that Benjamin and Lucy were married, her fits of sadness happening less and less. He could still recall those afternoons spent worrying over his sister as she stared out the window of his parlor, she wouldn't eat or drink, wouldn't smile, she just sat on the wooden crate and stared down at the people walking below. He's jerked abruptly out of the disturbing memories by something cold and wet slamming into his face, the sudden contact of it making him splutter. Lucy was sitting a few feet away from him, Lettie settled in her lap with flakes of snow already melting on her gloves. They had thrown a snowball at him, they'd actually done it and they were smiling about it!

He returns their smiles with one of his own, bending down to scoop up a ball of snow to throw, nailing Lucy with it when she tried to run. He gets another giggle from Lettie as she struggles to get back on her feet, but Benjamin swoops down and lifts her up into his arms, tickling her through the layers of clothes and falling to the ground with her. Lucy joins them, helping Benjamin as Lettie's flushed cheeks turn a shade darker from her laughter. They kept it up until they all laid on there backs, breathless and watching as the snow falls down on them, covering the world in a blanket of white.

* * *

Lettie smiles down at the infant in the cradle, taking in the baby and marveling at how small Johanna is; she's only ever seen baby dolls this small, never another human. "Hello, Johanna," she whispers, knowing she'd likely get in trouble if her brother or sister found her out of bed so late. She just wanted to see her new niece before she curled up in bed, wanted the tiny little girl to know that she would be taken care of all her life. "You is a pretty girl." She never noticed the slight shadow the her sister cast as Lucy watched the pair. The blonde loved how protective Lettie was already, the three year old overjoyed that her niece was finally where she could touch her instead of hidden away in Lucy's belly.

Lucy watched for a few moments more, waiting for Lettie to say her final goodnight and fall asleep before Lucy entered the nursery. As it is, Lettie shared the room with Johanna, but Benjamin was making good money these days and they hoped to have a better home in a few years. She walks on tiptoes over to the cradle, peering inside to see that Johanna was still sound asleep, and then she crept over to Lettie's small bed to check on her as well. Lettie slept much like her brother did when they finally were able to sleep, curled up in a tight ball with barely the top of her head visible over the blanket. She was just happy to see the child asleep after worrying about her for two days, the dark bruises under her eyes standing out against her pale face.

"She's alright, dear." Lucy jumped when she heard Benjamin's voice, finding her husband standing in the doorway of the room, silhouetted by candle light. "Safe in her dreams where we should be ourselves." Lucy smiles at him, joining him in the doorway.

"Are you going to sleep tonight," she asks.

"I suppose we'll find out in the morning." But when Lucy did wake the next morning, she didn't find Benjamin lying beside her, nor was he in the parlor sharpening his razors. She found him in the nursery, lying on Lettie's bed with his feet hanging off the end, Lettie curled up next to him with one of his arms wrapped securely around her, and their daughter safely sleeping in his free arm.

***~::~*::~*PRESENT*~::~*::~***

"Mister Todd?" He looks up when he hears Elizabeth's voice, finding the woman leaning against the door frame. She looked different than she had yesterday, a little less worn thin with some color in her cheeks. There was something about the way she held herself, a gracefulness from her movements that he knew came from her years spent under Turpin's roof. Eleanor had told her the story of what happened, how his Lettie was forced to run at a young age to escape the lecherous old vulture, but those lessons of being a lady seemed to have stuck with her even after she lost some of her memories.

"What is it, dear," he asks, setting aside one of his razors to offer her his full attention. A necklace hung round her throat, the one he'd given Lettie on her third birthday. It had belonged to their mother and it was the one thing he kept after selling everything else. As though knowing what he was staring at for that brief moment, Elizabeth moves a hand to cover the sapphire and diamond charm.

"I've been having these weird dreams lately and... Do you know who lived up here before you came?" Todd pauses for a moment, trying to figure out how much she remembered from the dreams and if those dreams were actually memories of her past. Could she have seen his face in those dreams, the one that belonged to Benjamin Barker? "I'm just being silly." She lowers her head, her dark hair falling forward to hide her face from his view.

"You're the silliest girl I know," Todd says without thinking," but I'll love you more than the moon loves the sun." Her head snaps up at his words, dark eyes locking with his own as she processes where she's heard that before. Then, slowly, she opens her mouth to speak again.

"How do you know how much the moon loves the sun?" He remembered that question well, she'd ask it every night before she went to bed. A smile tugs his lips upwards, the first real smile he's given since he was imprisoned. Every night, even as Sweeney Todd, he'd always utter the words 'I love you more than the moon loves the sun' and pretended that she heard him.

"Why else would it sacrifice itself so that the sun can shine?" That seemed to be the answer she was hoping for because she suddenly ran forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He wasn't sure if it was purely instinct that he wrapped her up in his arms or if he was starved for contact of any kind. "How much do you remember of your old life?"

"I was called Lettie," she whispers against his shoulder," I had a big sister and a niece, and I liked yellow flowers. After Lucy drank the poison and was taken away, Jo and I were moved to Turpin's estate; he touched me at night sometimes, so I ran away. I knew where this necklace was when I arrived here yesterday." He felt one of her arms move as she clutched the charm again. "I remembered the false bottom in the drawer where I kept it when I went to sleep." He rests his cheek against the top of her head, shaking with rage at the fact that Turpin had laid his hands on Lettie when she was so young. "Pirelli bought Toby and I when I was thirteen, Turpin liked how I looked and I've been going to his house every other night since then. It's horrible, he's always so rough and he likes to tie me up with ropes. Don't make me do it anymore, Benji, please." He could feel her shaking as well, though her shaking was due to tears.

"He'll never harm you again, Lettie. Never, I promise you, my sweet little sister." For that moment in time, he wasn't Sweeney Todd or a murderer that was plotting his revenge, he wasn't a hard man that had no qualms with killing to get what he needed. No, right then he was just Benjamin Barker, a big brother that would protect his baby sister no matter the cost. Similarly, Elizabeth wasn't a simple whore with no memories, she was Lettie once more and she felt loved.


	6. Interruptions

_::Interruptions::_

"Judge Turpin," Elizabeth says with some shock as the Judge and Bamford round the corner, straightening up from where she'd been cleaning off one of the outside tables. Bamford gives her a short nod before walking back in the direction of the brothel a few streets away. "What are you doing here, my lord?" Turpin gives her a similar look of shock, though he hides it well enough and she only saw it in his cold gray eyes. Turpin clears his throat after looking her over, enjoying the few changes present in the woman. She filled in her dress better now, not as starved as she had been and she had a bit of color in her cheeks.

"Yes, well, I heard there was a barber here of some skill," he replies. "And what are you doing here, Miss Banner?" She gives a little shrug, gesturing to the shop with the dirty rag in her hand.

"Pirelli sold me to the new barber and he has me helpin' out down here when he don't need me upstairs." she gives a shy smile, still not comfortable around the sadistic man despite having known him since she was little. Her memories had come back, most of them anyway, and it only served to make her more uneasy around the Judge. He looked tense, more so than usual, like nothing had gone his way in a week.

"I'm sure he's enjoying his investment."

"Edmund Turpin," she taunts with a smile, walking over to place a hand on his chest. She knows only two ways to act around this Judge, seductive and shy, and she was tired of playing at shyness. She wasn't shy, not really, she just wasn't sure how to act around other people when she wasn't expected to drop to her knees. "Are you jealous of Mister Todd?" Turpin's eyes narrow as he stares her down, his breath catching in his throat when he feels her hand playing with the buttons of his waistcoat. "I assure you, my lord, I know well that you don't like to share your women. I've not slipped into his bed on cold nights." She looks up at him through her lashes with an alluring smile.

"Am I to trust the word of a harlot?" It's Elizabeth's turn to narrow her eyes this time, all notions of seduction falling away to reveal the anger meetings with Turpin always leave her feeling.

"Mister Todd is upstairs cleaning up after his last patron. Follow me, if you please, my lord." She turns and leads the way up the stairs to her brother's parlor, the heels of her shoes clicking loudly on the old wood. She can feel the Judge's eyes on her, but she doesn't have to sell herself to him anymore in order to eat, her brother will take care of her from now on. When they make it up onto the small porch, Elizabeth steps aside and gestures for the Judge to enter. "You can trust me when I say that he'll give you the closest shave you've ever had. If it weren't true, then we'd have no business, would we?"

"Wasn't."

"Excuse me?"

"You said weren't, but it should be wasn't."

"As you say." Elizabeth makes her way back down the stairs, careful to skip the second to last because it was like to break under her weight, and then she goes back to cleaning the tables with the ratty cloth. " _Farewell and adieu to you Spanish ladies_ ," she sings softly as she works,"  _farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain, for we have received orders to sail to Old England, we hope in a short time to see you again. We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors, we'll rant and we'll roar along the salt seas until we strike soundings in the channel of Old England..._ " She looks up again as a customer walks past and into the shop for a pie, a slight smile on her lips as she hums the rest of the song. She liked this work, it was hard, but it wasn't nearly as hard as working for Pirelli was. Elizabeth moves from table to table, occasionally sending a glance towards her brother's parlor where he was shaving Turpin.

She knew her brother has killed at least one person since coming back, but would he be capable of doing it a second time like he'd promised her? The brother she could remember didn't even like killing the spiders that found themselves in the Barker home, but this man was harder and colder. This man wasn't Benjamin Barker like she had originally hoped for after regaining a few memories, this man is Sweeney Todd—a criminal, a murderer, and a thief. No, he would have no trouble killing Judge Turpin, but Elizabeth still hoped that Benjamin Barker was alive somewhere under that icy veneer. "How's the cleaning coming along," Toby asks, walking outside with a tankard of ale in his hand and a meat pie in the other.

"Slowly."

"Mrs. Lovett said to give you this and make you sit down for a bit." He holds the tankard and pie out for Elizabeth to take, which she does after sitting at the table she'd been cleaning. "I like it here, we don't get hit for messing things up." 

"It's nice, isn't it?" She smiles at the boy, glad that he was finally getting to be a child. "You love her, don't you?"

"She reminds me of my mum," he nods with a shrug," but I love you more, Beth." 

"And I love you more than the moon loves the sun." She'd always told him that, even back before she could remember why it always made her happy to hear the words spoken aloud and Toby liked to hear them after a hard day spent with Pirelli. They made him feel special, like he was the only person that mattered to Elizabeth, though that was true back in those days. "If I were to leave this place, leave London all together, would you come with me?" Toby pauses for a moment, scratching his head as he thought the offer over thoroughly.

"I dunno." He gives a shrug as he stares down at the cracked tabletop. "Aren't you happy here?" Again, Elizabeth's eyes dart up to Todd's parlor. That man up there would have no trouble harming people if they get in his way, so what's to stop him from hurting Toby or even Elizabeth herself? "Does Mister Todd scare you too?" Now her eyes snap back to the boy, seeing the fear and determination in his chocolate eyes. It made her heart ache to know how much Toby was afraid of Sweeney Todd, but at the same time, she understood only too well.

"He's not so bad," she answers after a moment, leaning across the table to ruffle Toby's unruly brown hair. "Here, you eat this, sweet boy." She hands him the untouched pie, smiling as he tore into the pastry. "Easy now, slow down a bit or you'll make yourself sick on that." He gives her a carefree grin, taking the time to chew his food and watching as she sips the ale in her cup.

"I s'pose I would go with you if you left." Elizabeth raises a brow at his words, tilting her head to the side. "It's just, I've never been anywhere without you and I don' want to start now. Where you go, I go and that's it." He gives a firm nod, looking all too grown up in that moment.

"Eat your pie, sweetheart. No need to worry on the matter just yet."

"Hey, who's that?" Elizabeth turns to see who Toby was pointing at, finding the sailor from Turpin's house taking the stairs two at a time in his hurry to see Todd. She jumps up, but it's already too late to stop him from entering the parlor and Turpin comes flying out moments later, sending a harsh glare in Elizabeth's direction. 

Sweeney Todd had failed. 


	7. A Daring Rescue Attempt

_::_ _A Daring Rescue Attempt_ _::_

Elizabeth hurried down the street, constantly looking over her shoulder to be sure she hadn't been followed by anyone. She needed to get to the Judge's house without her brother finding out about it lest she anger him further. Night was falling quickly on London and it helped keep Elizabeth hidden from view. Several people she passed gave her strange looks, no doubt wondering what kind of trouble she had to be if she was running so quickly. Soon though, the Turpin residence comes into view, Elizabeth picking up her pace as she runs right up the front steps and inside. She had to warn Johanna, had to let the girl know that she wasn't as safe as she thought she was. "Johanna," Elizabeth calls out breathlessly, unsure where to go now that she was inside.

She couldn't remember where her niece's room was, but she could hear footsteps from somewhere above her right before Johanna appeared at the top of the stairs. Elizabeth lights out a sigh of relief, taking the marble stairs two at a time and embracing the girl tightly. "I'm sorry," the blonde says, tensing at the sudden contact. "Do I know you?"

"You used to." Elizabeth pulls back, brushing some of the beauty's hair over her shoulders. "That'll have to wait until later, I'm here to help you pack so you can run off with Anthony."

"You know Anthony?" Elizabeth nudges her to get her walking again, following the younger girl back up the stairs and to one of the last doors at the end of a long hallway.

"I do, sweetie, but Turpin found out about your plans and he could show up at any moment to ruin everything for you. Our job is to have you out of here and to safety before that can happen." Johanna's bags are already on her bed, clothes folded neatly inside them and her wardrobe doors opened wide. "Um, would you say that you have enough clothes in there to last a week?"

"I suppose so," Johanna nods.

"Good, then go into Turpin's study and look in the top left hand drawer of his desk. There's a purse in there, you're going to need money."

"But—"

"I'll finish packing this, now go and get the purse!" Elizabeth makes a shooing motion until Johanna was running out of the room, Lettie shaking her head a little as she continues to stuff the numerous items into the bags. She wouldn't need much, just enough to get started, and the money Turpin has hidden away will help her and Anthony with the rest. A few moments later finds Johanna reentering the room, the heavy purse held in both hands. "Good, hand it here." Elizabeth takes it from her, stuffing it in the remaining bag before snapping it closed and turning to face her niece once more. "You look just like your mother, you know." Elizabeth could feel the tears stinging her eyes, but she doesn't allow them to fall. "Here, I don't need this anymore and I want you to have it." She removes her necklace and lets it drop down the front of her dress and into the small space in her corset. "We don't need you losing that before you make it out of London."

"Loosing what, exactly," comes the familiar drawling voice from the doorway. Elizabeth looks over her shoulder at Turpin and Bamford, the pair of them blocking the only way out of the room that didn't involve jumping through the window. Elizabeth straightens, standing protectively in front of her niece with a look that would send a lesser man running.

"Her virginity to a monster like you," she snarls. Turpin glares down at her, unfazed by her words.

"I came here hoping that what I heard today would be proven false, but I see I must shoulder two betrayals." He moves his cruel gaze to Johanna, pinning the blonde to the spot with fear. "Fret not, Elizabeth, dear Johanna will be given new lodgings a few miles from here until she remembers how grateful she should be for all that I have given her. After all, everyone needs to take time every now and again to think on their sins."

"Elizabeth," Johanna cries out when Turpin wrenches Elizabeth to the side and Bamford forces Johanna out of the room. "Elizabeth! No, please, don't do this! Let me go!" Elizabeth tries to go to her niece's aid, but Turpin keeps a tight grip on her arm and hair, pinning her roughly against one of the walls. "You should have arrived sooner, Elizabeth," he hisses in her ear," you may have actually gotten away with stealing my bride." Elizabeth clenches her jaw, but cries out all the same when he throws her to the ground and delivers a rough kick. "Stay here like a good little pet while I go and see Johanna to her carriage." She lets out a low moan of pain, curling up into a ball as Turpin leaves the room, just lying there for a moment until her head clears.

"No," she whimpers, memories flashing through her mind of a similar incident that took place fifteen years ago. "I'm sorry." Slowly and painfully, Elizabeth gets to her feet, clutching her midsection and leaning heavily against the wall as she makes her way down the hall. "Not again, please, God, let her be safe." When she reaches the stairs, she sits on the railing and slides the rest of the way down, dropping to her feet and nearly tripping when she reaches the ground floor again. She could see Turpin standing outside, the front door standing wide open as he yells at somebody. She doesn't wait to think her next action through, ignoring the pain as she sprints out of the house and down the street before Turpin really understood what had happened.

She needs to tell her brother what had happened, to apologize for trying to sneak Johanna away without his knowledge. "What has you runnin' so fast, lovely," a man calls from one of the dark alleys that snake off the main street, winding their way into the heart of London's underground. Elizabeth ignores the manic laughter that follows the shout, trying to run faster but running out of breath quickly. Her side ached, her lungs burned with every breath she took, and her legs felt like rubber. She kept moving, her eyes watering from the cold, and thunder booming overhead. It would storm soon, driving every sane person to shelter. Finally, after what felt like hours, the pie shop came into view and Elizabeth burst through the door of it, shocking two customers and Mrs. Lovett.

"Please," she gasps, sinking to the flour-strewn floor with a sob. "He has her. Benjamin, I need Benjamin."

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, the sun was streaming in through the warped glass of her bedroom window, its warmth making her forget the horrible night for a moment. Sunny days were rare in London, especially when those days were accompanied by warmth instead of the constant overcast skies and cold winds. She still ached, but it wasn't as bad as it was last night. "Todd," she shouts when she remembers what happened, her feet getting tangled in her blanket. "Todd!" Sweeney Todd came bursting in seconds later, one of his razors opened in his hand as he looks around for a threat. "Turpin sent her away."

"You told me last night," he mumbles, sitting beside her on the bed and returning the razor to its holster at his hip. "You got it all out before you went unconscious, as well as a few other things about pretty flowers and a puppy." His brow scrunches together at the last bit, shaking his head a little. "We'll get her back, Lettie. Just get some rest for me." Elizabeth lies back against her pillow, staring up at the cracked ceiling as Todd fixes her blanket again.

"I remember the last time you tucked me in."

"Oh yes?" She gives a curt nod, finally allowing her eyes to land on him and take in his disheveled appearance. He must have been sleeping when she shouted for him because his clothes were crooked and his hair was even messier than usual. "As do I. It was the day before your fourth birthday and I had just given you the sapphire and diamond necklace. You were nearly too excited to get to sleep, but you eventually drifted off when I sat on the floor beside your bed and held your hand."

"That day felt perfect, almost like a dream." She sighs, holding one of his larger hands in both of hers like she used to. "I love you more than the moon loves the sun." Todd gives her a smile, a real one this time, it reminded her of Benjamin. 

"And I love you more than that, Lettie." And then she was asleep once more, safe in her dreams and far away from this life of death and decay.


	8. Contentment

_::Contentment::_

The courtyard below was full to bursting with people, the grand re-opening of Mrs. Lovett's shop doing better business than it has in seventeen years. The noise carried through the old shop and up into Elizabeth's room, rousing her from her sleep once again. She's been sleeping a lot more than she used to and she's nearly positive that her brother's been putting something in the cup of ale she has every night. Perhaps she should do the same to him since he sleeps even less than she does. All the same, the extra rest was welcome and made her feel less drained. With a smile, she closes her eyes again and just listens to the noise—cheerful voices of customers, the familiar humming sound that her brother makes as he shaves, the creaking of footsteps. All those were nice and normal sounds, but every now and then she'd hear something that wasn't so normal, a strange echoing thud that happened after every other customer that comes up for a shave.

Perhaps she was being silly and perhaps it was the substance that makes her sleep, but she never heard the customer leaving after the strange thud happens. What could Todd be up to in that parlor of his? Slowly, to avoid setting to room to spinning, Elizabeth sits up and grabs her dressing gown and pulls it on before rising unsteadily to her feet. She woke up too soon, the drug hasn't left her system and it's making her feel sick to her stomach. She swallows back bile and makes her way to her bedroom door, leaning against the wall for a moment to get her equilibrium back before opening it and stepping into her brother's parlor. A man was sitting patiently in the barber chair, the bottom half of his face covered in lather as Todd stands beside him with his razor out. Both men look up when Elizabeth enters, the man in the chair looking confused while Todd simply sets his razor down and comes to her side.

"You should not be up yet," he tells her sternly, leading her back to her bed and tucking her in like he used to.

"What is it," she whispers, looking up at him with tired eyes. Her pupils were extremely dilated and nearly blended in with her eyes' natural dark color. "What do you put in my drink to make me sleep?"

"Laudanum." She nods, not fully processing her brother's words as she falls into another light sleep. She never heard Todd leave her room, never heard the customer's choked gasp as he began to drown in his own blood, and she didn't hear the echoing thump as he slid backwards out of Todd's chair and hit the floor of the basement headfirst. 

***~::~*::~*THE NEXT MORNING** ***~::~*::~***

Elizabeth sat silently next to her brother on the worn picnic blanket, her eyes closed as much needed sunlight occasionally peeked through the clouds and gave her some warmth. She needed this, needed fresh air that wasn't accompanied by Mrs. Lovett barking out orders or lecherous old men pulling at her skirts and requesting more ale. It was nice to just relax and enjoy a her day off, though she could have done without Mrs. Lovett's rambling. That woman always seemed to be talking about something, she was very lonely before Todd moved upstairs, and Elizabeth understood that well enough, but the rambling grated on her nerves all the same. "...Maybe a nice boar's head," Mrs. Lovett was saying now. "I think it'd look nice, make the shop look a little classier."

"I'm going for a walk," Elizabeth interrupts, gaining looks from both of the adults beside her.

"Stay where we can see you, dear. We don't need you gettin' yourself hurt."

"I don't need to be looked after, I'm no longer four years old and you're not my mother." She didn't wait for Lovett to compose herself, moving away from the pair with quick strides toward the path that wound its way around the park. She didn't mean to sound so harsh, but she really was tired of Mrs. Lovett being so motherly and smothering. Elizabeth's mother was dead, her sister was dead, and she didn't need another woman she liked dying as well. Sometimes it felt like she was cursed, all the death that surrounded her only adding to the affect. Elizabeth shakes her head sadly, walking even faster even if her shoes began to make her feet ache. With the new money coming in, Mrs. Lovett was quick to drag Toby and Elizabeth to the tailor to get them all new clothes. Sure, Elizabeth loved the fact that she now owned a dress that covered everything and wasn't falling apart faster than she could sew it back together, but the heeled shoes Lovett forced her to wear she could do without. The heels of them, nearly three inches, clicked every time they made contact with the hard surface of the path, echoing in the silence of the park. She lets her thoughts wander freely as she walks, not paying attention to her surroundings until she ran into someone, both of them falling in surprise.

"Sorry, miss," the person apologizes quickly as they both sit up again. The man, Elizabeth sees, is young, perhaps a few years older than herself, with a head-full of dark brown hair and the most beautiful blues eyes that she had ever seen. He was slim, but she knew he wasn't as weak as he looked as he helped her back up onto her feet, he was also dressed in the uniform of a police officer. "I should'a been watchin' where I was going."

"It's alright," Elizabeth says with a laugh, brushing some of her hair over her shoulder. "It's as much my fault as it is yours, I'm afraid I wasn't paying much attention either." He gives her a sheepish grin, capturing his bottom lip between his teeth in a nervous gesture. "I'm Elizabeth Banner."

"I-I'm Andrew James." He gives Elizabeth's hand a chaste kiss, quickly pulling his hand back and using it to pick up his helmet from where it had flew out of his hands.

"Do women make you nervous, Mister James?"

"Ma'am?" Elizabeth gives him a smile, reaching up to pull a feather out of his thick hair and sticking it through the top buttonhole of his uniform top.

"It was nice meeting you, officer." And she turned to walk back the way she came, leaving the officer behind with a curious expression. He was intrigued, obviously unused to getting any attention from women, though Elizabeth could see that he liked it. Perhaps they would run into each other again, she would quite like that. "Come by Mrs. Lovett's meat pie shop on Fleet Street," she calls to him over her shoulder. "I'll pay for your lunch." With another smile, she faces the path again, following it until it leads her back to her strange family.

"What has you smiling," her brother asks as she rejoins him on the blanket. Her smile just widens a little more as she rests her head on Todd's shoulder, her eyes landing on Toby where he sat near Lovett. The boy looked happier than she had ever seen him, and that made her happy in return. She'd die for the child, she'd kill to keep him safe, anything to make sure he didn't have to grow up too fast. He should stay a child for as long as he can and enjoy the simpler aspects of this hard life. She lets out a sigh, turning her gaze to the sky, barely able to see glimpses of the sun through the lead-colored clouds. 

This is what it felt like to be content with your life, but if only Elizabeth could see what horrors awaited her.


	9. The Problem With Kissing

_::The Problem With Kissing::_

It was a busy afternoon when her guest stopped in, Elizabeth not noticing him in the crowd of people waiting to be served until he called out her name. At the sound of his voice, she turned and greeted the young man with a cheerful smile, moving through the crowd until she was standing in front of him with a pitcher of ale in her hand. "I didn't think you would come," she admits breathlessly. Already, the tide of people were being directed out into the courtyard because all the tables in the shop were completely filled.

"I wanted to see you again," he admits, but his voice was soft and the constant buzz of talking drowned him out, so Elizabeth couldn't hear him. "I wanted to see you again!" With a laugh, Elizabeth pulls him with her until they stood under the stairs that lead up to her brother's parlor. "I-I wanted to see you again," he repeats for the third time, Elizabeth finally able to hear him.

"Well, I'm very glad you came, Mister James."

"Please, it's just Andrew." He gives her another of his shy smiles and she returns it with one that spoke of confidence. "It's quite busy today, isn't it?" Both look back towards the courtyard, Andrew looking completely astounded at the small shop's success. "Is it always like this?"

"Only recently, I think the owner changed something in the recipe." Elizabeth shrugs, looking back to Andrew and taking in his features. He has a light tan with a few freckles and a strong jaw, his lips were a pale pink and full, and his nose was small with a slight bump near the middle. He didn't look starved, so he may come from a good family—not necessarily high class, but he never had to worry about his next meal. "Where are you from, if I may ask?"

"Both of my grandparents live here in London, but my parents and I moved to America when I was ten." He blushes a little, as though he wasn't used to talking about himself. "I came to live here again when I was seventeen after my parents died and I've been here since then."

"What's America like?" Elizabeth had never been outside London, so a place as far away as America seemed almost impossible to imagine. "I've heard it never rains there!" Andrew chuckles at her enthusiasm, biting his lip again.

"Well, it does rain over there, though not as often as it does here and the sun seems like it's always out. I had forgotten how cold it was here until I came back." He shrugs, looking up at the overcast sky and then back to Elizabeth. She was staring up at him with wide eyes, her attention focused solely on him as he continues to talk. "It was so warm there, and more things grew there that it's hard to grow here. They have these family homes called plantations and the houses are as large as any they have here. The land those houses sit on seems to stretch for miles with no end in sight. I miss it some days, but I have my family here."

"I've never left London." She felt rather embarrassed to admit it, her cheeks turning a dark pink. "I was an orphan until my brother found me again, my owner didn't like to leave when business could almost always be found here."

"Owner?"

"Yes, the man that bought me from the workhouse." Andrew's brows scrunch together as he cups Elizabeth's face. "Does... Does America not have things like that?"

"They have slaves there, but I never thought it was right. No human should own another, no matter how different their social status is." He frowns down at Elizabeth, studying her for a long moment as she lowers her gaze. She was pretty in her own way, he supposed, her long hair had a slight wave to it that added texture and her nose was a bit small while it seemed to flatten slightly at the tip. She was a tiny thing, though she looked to be healthier than some of the other women he'd seen while patrolling the city. "No one will ever own you again, Elizabeth," he promises when she meets his gaze again. "I'll see to that personally." He'd be damned if he allowed innocent women to be enslaved when he could help them. He started slightly when Elizabeth pressed her lips against his, hers soft and firm as the pitcher of ale crashes to the pavement and her hands grip the front of his waistcoat. He wasn't sure at first what to do, then instinct took over and he let his hands rest gently on her hips, kissing her back and letting all the noise and distraction fade away.

"Oi!" The sudden shout and a sharp pain in his head is what dropped Andrew back into reality, turning to find an angry auburn-haired woman standing behind him with a rolling pin clutched in one of her hands. "We don't need your kind here attacking us!"

"Mrs. Lovett," Elizabeth calls out, stepping between Andrew and the mad woman before she could hit him again with the rolling pin. "He wasn't attacking me!" Mrs. Lovett lowers the pin, sending Andrew a suspicious glance over Elizabeth's head. "I'm the one that initiated the kiss, not him."

"You don't 'ave to do that sort of thing, dear." Elizabeth lets out a soft laugh, stepping over the broken shards of the pitcher and turning Lovett around. "Alright then, but be safe and don' let you-know-who find out about this or your man there may not be safe."

"Yes, ma'am," Elizabeth laughs, giving the other woman a nudge to get her walking again before turning to face Andrew. "I'm sorry, she's protective of the people she's closest to."

"No need to apologize," Andrew says with a laugh of his own as he moves closer to her. "I'm glad you have someone to protect you. No one will ever dare to lay a hand on either of you while she has that rolling pin in hand."

"Oh yes, it's her favorite weapon to keep ruffians and vagabonds from taking advantage of us." A comfortable silence falls between them, one Andrew and Elizabeth spent studying each other further. "Will you stay for a while since you're not on duty? I do owe you lunch, after all."

"I'd love to, my lady." Elizabeth shakes her head, crinkling her nose and making Andrew laugh again.

"Call me Lettie."

"I knew a girl with that name once," Andrew says as he lets Elizabeth lead him into the shop. Most of the customers were gone now, their bellies full and hard work to do until supper. "She lived with some Judge and she was always sad." Andrew looked sad now as well, sitting at one of the empty tables and watching Lettie as she moved about the shop expertly. "She had these eyes that just... Well, you didn't want to look away from them, they were like some sort of—" He shakes his head again with a laugh. "I don't know how to explain it, but they showed everything she felt, and when you looked into them, you felt that too. She was very pretty and I swore that I would marry her one day, but then I moved to America and I was forced to leave her behind."

"But now you're back." She sets a flour-covered plate in front of him with a single pie in the center, a cup of ale set down next to the plate. He grasps her wrist to keep her from moving away again, staring up at her knowingly.

"And now I'm back, Lettie."

"I'm not the girl you remember, Andrew," Elizabeth whispers, working her wrist out of his grasp. "I've changed too much to be that girl anymore." Andrew stands and pulls her into a mind-numbing kiss, cutting off anything she might have said and making her forget everything around her except the feel of Andrew's body against her own. She'd loved him back in her childhood, even before the Judge took her away from here, and she even remembered him vaguely after she forgot everything else. She'd felt content with her new life, but Andrew made her happy about it. And then, just as she was ready to pull back for breath, Andrew stumbles away and drops to the floor, clutching at his leg in pain.

"And don't you touch her again," Toby growls down at him. It seems they would never be able to share a kiss without someone in her family injuring Andrew at some point.


	10. The End?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lettie: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/427627381151395840/oe5QEMW6.jpeg
> 
> Andrew: http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/11000000/Cillian-as-Scarecrow-cillian-murphy-11063050-601-425.jpg
> 
> Lettie's Necklace: http://images.thenaturalsapphirecompany.com/nsc/jewelry/J2862/image/Natural_Sapphire_Jewelry_Necklace_Round_Blue_J2862_1-Full.jpg

_::The End::_

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing, couldn't believe what part her brother was playing in a madwoman's scheme; her Benjamin would never murder a stranger in cold blood and he most certainly wouldn't allow his neighbor to put them into pies, but her Benjamin died fifteen years ago and a demon took over his corpse. That had to be what had happened because she couldn't handle it being anything other than the Devil's malicious work. Todd looks up from the corpse in his chair when he hears his sister's gasp, taking in the ashen hue of her skin and the way she stared at him as though seeing a monster. "Lettie," he says, letting the razor drop to the ground as he holds up his hands in a gesture that meant he would do her no harm.

Elizabeth shakes her head rapidly back and forth, letting out small whimpers of fear every now and again as he walks closer to her. "No," she shrieks when he reaches out for her, batting his hand away. The blood on his sleeve transferred to her hand when she struck out at him, standing out harshly against her flesh. "N-no... No...No, Benji." He could see how she struggled to catch her breaths, the tight corset and heavy fabric of her dress not assisting her at all. "Please..."

"Lettie—"

"You don't get to call me that!" Her sudden shout made him wince and he felt as though someone was twisting a knife in his heart. "You don't... You're not my Benjamin anymore. You're as insane as that woman downstairs!" And before Todd could grab onto her, Elizabeth was fleeing down the stairs, not looking back or paying attention to where she was going. She just needed to get far away from that monster, but she barely made it three blocks before a man shoved her roughly to the cobblestones. "Get off!"

"Not yet, little pet," a familiar voice snarls in her ear as his repulsive stench filled her nose and made her eyes water. Beadle Bamford had found her and he was in a foul mood. "You've denied me enough for three lifetimes and I think it's time I punished you."

"You disgusting worm!" Elizabeth increased her struggles, adrenaline giving her enough strength to buck him off of her and turn onto her back, but Bamford did not let that stop him. Judge Turpin had ordered the girl's silence, and Bamford would do anything his lord asked him to do if it ended with him being rewarded for his service. Bamford, now standing with one of his feet planted firmly on Elizabeth's neck, brings his walking stick down hard against her midsection. He loved to hear people scream when he hurt them, it made him feel a sense of power that he'd never had before, but all Elizabeth could feel was a burning agony wherever the cane struck—her shoulders, her stomach, her legs, Bamford didn't seem to care as long as the screams still came.

"Dirty harlots like you shouldn't walk on God's earth." His words were punctuated with another strike, and another after that as Elizabeth's loud screams turn into quiet whimpers. She was too tired to scream, hurting too bad to fight anymore, and she could barely focus on anything except the pain. She hurt so badly, every inch of her body had turned a dark red, blood spilling from the shallow cuts that decorated her abused flesh. "It's time for the end, Miss Banner. I hope you prayed enough while you lived." As Bamford raised the cane one last time, Elizabeth shut her eyes to the world.

Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was seeing, couldn't believe what part her brother was playing in a madwoman's scheme; her Benjamin would never murder a stranger in cold blood and he most certainly wouldn't allow his neighbor to put them into pies, but her Benjamin died fifteen years ago and a demon took over his corpse. That had to be what had happened because she couldn't handle it being anything other than the Devil's malicious work. Todd looks up from the corpse in his chair when he hears his sister's gasp, taking in the ashen hue of her skin and the way she stared at him as though seeing a monster. "Lettie," he says, letting the razor drop to the ground as he holds up his hands in a gesture that meant he would do her no harm.

Elizabeth shakes her head rapidly back and forth, letting out small whimpers of fear every now and again as he walks closer to her. "No," she shrieks when he reaches out for her, batting his hand away. The blood on his sleeve transferred to her hand when she struck out at him, standing out harshly against her flesh. "N-no... No...No, Benji." He could see how she struggled to catch her breaths, the tight corset and heavy fabric of her dress not assisting her at all. "Please..."

"Lettie—"

"You don't get to call me that!" Her sudden shout made him wince and he felt as though someone was twisting a knife in his heart. "You don't... You're not my Benjamin anymore. You're as insane as that woman downstairs!" And before Todd could grab onto her, Elizabeth was fleeing down the stairs, not looking back or paying attention to where she was going. She just needed to get far away from that monster, but she barely made it three blocks before a man shoved her roughly to the cobblestones. "Get off!"

"Not yet, little pet," a familiar voice snarls in her ear as his repulsive stench filled her nose and made her eyes water. Beadle Bamford had found her and he was in a foul mood. "You've made the Judge very angry and he thinks it's time that I punished you."

"You disgusting worm!" Elizabeth increased her struggles, adrenaline giving her enough strength to buck him off of her and turn onto her back, but Bamford did not let that stop him. Judge Turpin had ordered the girl's silence, and Bamford would do anything his lord asked him to do if it ended with him being rewarded for his service. Bamford, now standing with one of his feet planted firmly on Elizabeth's neck, brings his walking stick down hard against her midsection. He loved to hear people scream when he hurt them, it made him feel a sense of power that he'd never had before, but all Elizabeth could feel was a burning agony wherever the cane struck—her shoulders, her stomach, her legs, Bamford didn't seem to care as long as the screams still came.

"Dirty harlots like you shouldn't walk on God's earth." His words were punctuated with another strike, and another after that as Elizabeth's loud screams turn into quiet whimpers. She was too tired to scream, hurting too bad to fight anymore, and she could barely focus on anything except the pain. She hurt so badly, every inch of her body had turned a dark red, blood spilling from the shallow cuts that decorated her abused flesh. "It's time for the end, Miss Banner. I hope you prayed enough while you lived." As Bamford raised the cane one last time, Elizabeth shut her eyes to the world.

***~::~*::~*** **ANDREW** ***~::~*::~***

Andrew had thought tonight would be like every other night when he was on duty, he would head out and patrol the bad elements of London and try to keep the peace, but Fate seemed to have a different plan in mind for him. He'd just entered the bad part of town when he saw the body of a woman lying in the middle of the street, a pool of blood surrounding her and giving him a start. Sure, he's seen dead bodies in his lifetime, but this wasn't too far from Fleet Street. Holding his breath, he approaches the body and the face that he found there made his heart clench. It was Elizabeth. "No," he gasps, dropping to his knees beside her and paying no mind as the blood soaked into his pants. 

"And," she murmurs, her voice barely heard," Andrew?" 

"I'm here," he tells her, holding her in his arms as a man might hold his bride. "I've got you, Lettie." Elizabeth falls back into unconsciousness as Andrew gets to his feet, struggling not to slip in the pool of scarlet as he began to run. There were no doctors here that could help her, he knew it was already too late for help, so he did the only other thing he could think of—he took her home. At least this way her brother and the boy she's spoken so fondly of would get to say their goodbyes, but only if Andrew made it to the parlor before Elizabeth's heart stopped. As it is, she's barely breathing and hardly recognizable, covered in bruises and blood and grime. He'd promised to protect her, but what had she been doing walking around at his time of night? He doesn't stop running until he can make out the soft light shining through the window of Todd's parlor, holding Elizabeth closer to him as he carefully made his way up the creaking stairs. "Mister Todd!" He kicks open the door and barges in, but he doesn't find what he thinks he would. 

"Lettie," Todd breathes, stepping down on the peddle that would send Beadle Bamford down into the bakehouse. 

"Dear God in Heaven, what have you done?" But it's as if Todd didn't see Andrew at all, only the woman clutched in his arms. "Stay back!" Andrew tried to take a step back, but his pant-leg snagged on a loose nail and tripped him up. Before he could stop himself, he was suddenly falling backwards, through the old railing of the porch, and hitting the cobblestones below with a horrible  _crack_. He could feel the bones in his body shatter at the contact, could feel as warm blood seeps from his body and to the ground to join Elizabeth's. He couldn't move, but he was still holding Elizabeth tightly against him as Sweeney Todd appeared over him. The demon crouched down, brushing some of Elizabeth's dark hair off her face. She was already cold and dead, the impact of the fall finishing what some other man had started.

"Goodbye, my sweet sister."

"Benjamin Barker...?" Sweeney's dark eyes focus on Andrew, filled with pity as he rests the sharp edge of his razor against the boy's throat, giving him the mercy of a quick death. 

* * *

Camille walked effortlessly down the street, holding the hand of her adoptive-brother tightly to keep him from wandering off. That's the last thing she needed when they were already lost in the bustling streets of downtown London. They've been there a grand total of three hours and were already so turned around that she couldn't have told you if up was down or not. "C'mon," she says to the little boy," we should find it soon." The truth was that she wasn't sure what she was even looking for at this point, just that she'd know it when she saw it. All the houses in this area were condemned, made back in the early 1800's and no longer fit to house people. Finally, her feet sore and her head throbbing from the constant noise, Camille sits down on the rotted step of an old pie shop.

Jamie sat down next to her, his short legs swinging back and forth and a smile on his face. He was only two and saw the happiness in everything, even old decaying buildings such as this one. If only she could get directions back to their hotel; she's quite sure their parents would be worried if they didn't appear soon. "You lost, dear?" Camille looks up from her boots when she hears a man's voice, the sound familiar to her, but not quite enough for her to know where she's heard it before. Standing not two feet away is a tall man with short black hair and pale skin, there were dark bruises under his eyes to show for his lack of sleep and he had a lean body that hinted at not eating enough.

"I'm afraid so," Camille nods, standing up and taking her brother into her arms. "Do you know where—"

"That's a beautiful necklace, miss." Camille's free hand comes to rest over the small sapphire and diamond circle hanging around her neck, taking a couple of steps back only to have the man follow her. "Given to you by someone you love, I'd bet."

"Leave her alone, Benji," another voice commands from above. Camille spins around, spotting a woman standing on the small porch upstairs. Her dark hair fell down her back loosely, and her skin seemed to be as pale as the man's was. "Can't you see you're scaring the poor girl?" The man laughs a little, a dark sound that made Camille back up a few more steps. The man, Benji, takes the creaking stairs two at a time and joins the woman up on the porch. "Sorry, miss, it's just lonely in this part of town is all. He won't harm ya."

"I apologize as well, it's just too tempting to sneak up on people sometimes."

"Sorry, miss, you can't be down here," yet another man calls out, a police officer by the looks of him. "These old buildings could come down at any time, so you need to get on back to where it's safe."

"I'm sorry, I got lost," Camille explains, wondering why he didn't tell the pair behind her the same thing.

"Well, let's get you unlost, shall we?" As the officer lead her away, Camille looks over her shoulder, but finds the small porch empty.

"Wait, there were people over there..." She notices right away that the man goes pale when he looks back as well, biting his bottom lip nervously and trying to urge her to keep walking. "You can't just leave them in that place, not when it could collapse and kill them!"

"It can't kill anything that ain't alive. Those two you saw will be just fine."

"Are you insane? Of course they were alive!"

"They weren't, miss. I get reports from tourists like you all the time about a pair of siblings that run all through these parts, but there's nothin' I can do about any ghosts. They were both murdered a long time ago and haven't left since." As the police officer propels her down the street, Camille recalls something she hadn't noticed right away—the pair had worn strange clothing and the stairs hadn't made a sound when the man had run up them. When she reaches one of the main streets that people were actually occupying, she turns to give the officer her thanks, but he had disappeared somewhere behind her.

"Excuse me," she calls out, her voice shaking as she takes a step back the way she had came.

"Don't come down here, miss. It isn't safe." The voice of the police officer seemed to come from right beside her, she could smell his cologne, but there wasn't anyone there.  _That settles it_ , she decides as she runs the rest of the way back to her hotel,  _I'm never paying another visit to Fleet Street as long as I live!_

Benjamin and Lettie watch as Andrew leads the poor girl and little boy away from them, Lettie resting her head on her brother's shoulder. "Must be one of our relatives," Benjamin states," no one else feels the need to come visit us anymore."

"She was wearing the necklace I gave Johanna," Lettie points out as the police officer returns to his post just outside the pie shop. "Had the girl's hair color too."


End file.
